Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: guns-OT

[Racheli Gai (jnpalme]

My comments aren't really on the gun issue.  They
are on the dangers of bad substances in the home,
and on the futility of punishment.
R. 

Howard Landman <howard [at] polyamory.org> said:

>Racheli wrote:
>> Me: Just because we all have some dangerous things in our houses doesn't
>> entail that everything which is dangerous is, necessarily, ok  to have.  
>> Many people leave their homes unlocked in coho neighborhoods. With kids
>> entering places - not necessarily when anyone is there, and with their
>> insatiable curiosity - having guns doesn't seem safe to me.



>There are probably 100 ways for a child entering my house unsupervised to
>kill themself.  There are toxic chemicals including bleach, ammonia,
>detergents, solvents, Drano, and peroxide.  There are prescription drugs
>to overdose on.  There are electrical dangers, there are heat dangers,
>there are stairs.  I store model rocket engines.  There are knives and
>razor blades and awls and hammers and power drills.  There are heavy
>things that could crush them.  There are plastic bags that could
>suffocate and cords that could strangle.  There are tile and concrete
>surfaces they could bash their head on.

>And this is AFTER babyproofing!  (I have 9-month-old twins.)

For the sake of your health, as well as the health of your kids etc. - I'd
suggest you get rid of some of the stuff you seem to have in your home
(solvents, Drano, etc.).  It's very likely that the  air quality in your
home is very poor (and as such is especially bad for the very young).  If
you need to have such
stuff, you should look for a place other than where you live. Many of
these items are also bad ecologically speaking.  Perhaps you should look
for alternatives?

>So even if I did have a firearm, I'm not sure it would be at the top of
>my list of worries when I thought about irresponsible, unethical and
>unsupervised minors loose in my dwelling.

>If one of MY young kids went into someone else's house uninvited, I would
>most likely punish them pretty severely.  I don't think trespassing is
>acceptable behavior.  Do you?

Kids often enter other people's houses without knocking
because they haven't mastered the "etiquette", or sometimes
because they are too absorbed in what they are doing to
notice.  Hardly what I'd call "unethical"...  And some probably do things
like that because they get punished, which makes
them angry and rebellious.  
R.


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jnpalme [at] attglobal.net (Racheli Gai)
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